Good travel insurance

[bluezephyr]

Ive tried a few companies in the past, I tried to claim from Insure and go (I paid and the service went!!) over delayed luggage and what i had to buy to see me through.

I tried BUPA in 2007 in the thought that its a good company here in the UK and any problems would be quickly cleared up and should anything bad happen to me it would be sorted. The holiday went like it should with no problems.
I did a quick search on here and BUPA came up a few times, Not wanting to drag up an old thread i started a new one
When you buy insurance do you buy bargain basement or The full monty?? Is spending the extra ££ worthwhile?
To be honest anything in my suitcase isnt worth a whole lot, Its just me i want to be dealt with efficiently and professionally if the SHTF.

[Big Boy]

This has been discussed on here several times before, and I'm sure the answer this time will be the same as always - the policy which specifically suits your needs, will not necessarily be the best policy for others.

A story I've told before:

I tried bargain basement once. Initially it saved me a lot of money, and it claimed to cover everything that its expensive cousins covered. During this trip my wife suffered serious illness. I confidently contacted my insurance company. They said they would phone me back in 24 hours.

When they phoned me back, they referred me to the exclusions section of the policy, where basically it said that it covered anybody for any illness unless they were ill. My bargain basement policy was worthless. Something most people only find out when they need it. OK, I had to bite the bullet and pay the bills myself. Lucky this was Thailand and not USA.

From that day on, having learnt the hard way, I don't buy my insurance on what the policy offers, but on the policy's exclusions.

The insurance that has consistently met my wife's special needs has been NatWest. I have made several claims, including one all expenses paid trip to Thailand to help my wife return home. They have always been very helpful.

[bluezephyr]

Just had a read of BUPA's policy wording.

Basically it should just read, If you need to make a claim, we will argue with you until you give up trying!!.

And how you have to ask them first before undergoing any medical treatment as theyre not liable for any costs incured before you contact them!.
When a friend dislocated his shoulder in Nakhon Sawan the last thing on my mind was running back to the hotel to look for paperwork while he was in pain, The hotel stumped up for all the expenses as he slipped on their grounds, to Pimarn Hotel near the bus station in Nakhon Sawan.
Im sure the treatment he had that day and night would cost a fair bit.

[JimmyGreaves]

I find it difficult to find insurance cover for trips greater than 90 days in the UK, most cover is for any 30 day trip on a yearly insurance.

Think I will try and buy my insurance (more concerned about medical) in LOS now.

What are most of the you guys doing who stay permanent or semi-permanent?

[hhfarang]

My retiree insurance (from my company) was too expensive. Even though they claimed they paid 40% my monthly premium per person for three people in the beginning was around $900! I dropped it after a year and started looking at local options. I found that most of the companies here, just like in the U.S. will not cover pre-existing conditions. They define this very loosely so that anyone who has been on medication for blood pressure, cholesterol, or asthma, cannot get coverage for those anatomical systems, i.e., in my case, no coverage for cardio vascular or pulmonary related illnesses. That pretty much leaves cancer or accidents only!

Also I found that most, if not all, companies here have an age limit of somewhere between 60 and 65 years old.

So... unless you are planning to have a health problem that you have never had any treatment for before and are under 60 or so years of age, you can forget insurance in my experience.

The best option (for people in my situation, at least), considering the lower cost of health care here (at least in comparison with the U.S. where I am from) is to keep between 1 and 2 million baht in the bank and just forget about it until you have a health emergency. That amount should cover nearly any accident or illness here at a reasonably good Bangkok hospital.

If anyone knows of a better option for a 60 year old who has a history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and asthma (all which have been satisfactorily controlled by medication for the last 25 years), I'd like to hear about it.

[Pagey]

Most of the common insurance companies in the UK will only offer a policy if your trip starts and ends in the UK and as I am working in Saudi my trips start and end in Saudi.

I asked others working here and searched the internet a bit and we only came up with one company that suited our needs and thats Columbus Direct.

They offer an annual multi trip policy which is only 117 Euros for me. I guess all policies have similar exclusions especially for pre existing medical conditions. I think trips are limited to 60 days.

Two of us have made claims, mine for theft of money and mobile phone, only around a 100 pounds I think and my colleague claimed for him and his wifes luggage not arriving I believe and they paid up with the necessary reports and proof, in my case tourist police report and bank statements showing withdrawals from ATM and receipt for phone purchase.

I've used them for 5 years now with no complaints but as I said earlier my choice of insurance companies and policies is limited.

[Khundon1975]

My insurance charged me £777 for 1 months cover to LOS and did not cover pre existing conditions, heart, cancer, plus loads of others.

I decided to leave 3 mill in Thai bank and not bother with insurance, they will argue till you drop dead, before they pay anything.

Spent 1 night in San Palo hospital in 2003.

£450 for 1 ECG, 2 asprins and 1 blood enzyme test. A rip off.

[dtaai-maai]

Spent 1 night in San Palo hospital in 2003.

£450 for 1 ECG, 2 asprins and 1 blood enzyme test. A rip off.

Blimey, it certainly was - I spent a week there in 2006, blood tests and scans, etc daily, and they charged me about 600 quid at the exchange rate at the time...

[Khundon1975]

Spent 1 night in San Palo hospital in 2003.

£450 for 1 ECG, 2 aspirins and 1 blood enzyme test. A rip off.

Blimey, it certainly was - I spent a week there in 2006, blood tests and scans, etc daily, and they charged me about 600 quid at the exchange rate at the time...

dtaai-maai

As I came through the door (walking wounded, thought I was having another heart attack) the first thing they asked my wife "How he pay"?

The wife waved a wad of 1000Baht notes under the Docs face and I was in.
The food was crap, one bowl of thin soup for dinner the same soup for breakfast.
Luckily the night market was open and fried chicken was served all round.

There was a young German back packer there, with bad leg injuries (motorbike accident) who could not afford to pay, and they would not let him leave as he had no insurance.
His flight home was the following night and he would have lost it, they did not care.

We paid his bill (the wife doing her Buddhist thing) and wife's parents took him to Don Muang to get his flight and he sent money to us 2 months later, when he got back to Germany, and had arranged a bank loan.

I would not use them again, but would try to get to BKK if at all possible.

Insurance is only any good if you are young and healthy, when you get past 50 and have a medical history, forget it.

PS, I tried to tell them that I required 2 Enzyme tests to prove no heart damage, they said no only 1 required.
In UK the hospitals will not let you leave unless 2 tests, twelve hours apart, prove no enzyme activity. Well TIT

[dtaai-maai]

Look on the bright side, Don - if they'd given you another enzyme test it would have been even more expensive!

I wasn't doubting your experience, just giving a mildly positive one of my own. There have been lots of negative threads about SP, and it wasn't a particularly joyful experience for me, but I have no serious complaints in retrospect. (Apart from the fact that some bugger nicked my phone and my glasses! WTF??)

Unfortunately, I was 'between (teaching) jobs' at the time and therefore uninsured. Sod's law. I'm now insured for treatment at Hua Hin hospital. Let's hope none of us has to worry about this problem in the future. (and where's my Golden Virginia?)

[Khundon1975]

Look on the bright side, Don - if they'd given you another enzyme test it would have been even more expensive!

I wasn't doubting your experience, just giving a mildly positive one of my own. There have been lots of negative threads about SP, and it wasn't a particularly joyful experience for me, but I have no serious complaints in retrospect. (Apart from the fact that some bugger nicked my phone and my glasses! WTF??)

Unfortunately, I was 'between (teaching) jobs' at the time and therefore uninsured. Sod's law. I'm now insured for treatment at Hua Hin hospital. Let's hope none of us has to worry about this problem in the future. (and where's my Golden Virginia?)

DM sorry to hear about the phone and glasses, perhaps they needed the glasses, to see which was the best phone to nick.

Serous side for a min, the second enzyme test would have proved that I had not had a heart attack however minor. I wanted to pay for two tests as it would not have added much more to the rip off bill anyway.

No hospital should discharge someone who has heart disease, without doing two tests before discharge.
Could be fatal as the enzymes can take up to 10 hours to show in blood tests. Doing one test is pointless.

I went to BKK and had a full check up, including another blood tests and it only cost me 2800Baht.
Don't ever fancy another SP experience again.